If your answer would be "Yes of course, why do you even ask such a stupid question?", you and I will get along just fine.
This past Saturday the, so far only, Democratic candidate to take on Elizabeth Dole for her US Senate seat was answering live questions on another favorite blog hangout of mine.
That candidate is Jim Neal.
At one point in the question and answer session the following came up:
Question: I've heard you're gay...Neal went on to write that he plans to win the race and is "not running to make some social statement."
Answer: I am indeed. No secret and no big deal to me-- I wouldn't be running if I didn't think otherwise.
"When people meet me, they'll see beyond the labels and into my character," he wrote.
Does the sexual orientation of a political candidate matter? Of course it doesn't. Does it matter to a bunch of right-wing nutjobs? You bet it does.
What a lot of republicans will forget is that they already have gay representatives in their own ranks, e.g. Senator Larry "wide stance" Craig from Idaho.
The difference is that gays in the republican party have to remain hidden and lie about their true nature or they'll be forever banished.
There's plenty of other national republican figures, even from North Carolina, that have a lot of questions about their sexuality circulating around them. You'll never hear them openly say that they're gay though, because that pisses off the oh so important "conservative values" voter block within the republican party. How you can call being homophobic a "value" is beyond me.
Something else that's not a value is total hypocrisy, which brings me to the following.
Sen. John Ensign, who chairs the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, made clear that he wants embattled Sen. Craig to leave the Senate immediately. Ensign said:
"He pled guilty to something that, you know lewd behavior, that's not the behavior a United States senator should be engaged in."What Mr. Ensign forgets to mention is that he never asked another republican Senator, David Vitter, to resign even though Vitter has admitted to committing a "serious sin" with a Washington prostitute when he served in the House.
There are even stories saying that Vitter also frequented prostitutes in his native Louisiana.
The difference? Vitter isn't gay.
Saturday's conversation gave a lot of reasons why you should vote for Jim Neal next year although I'm sure the press will focus on the "gay issue".
Jim Neal's 5 priorities: restoring Protecting our nation and its freedoms, fiscal responsibility, health care for all Americans, protecting our environment and restoring government accountability to the voters who elect and pay the freight for the elected reps.
Some of his statements on Saturday:
"I'm running to lead in the Senate for the voters in NC-- something Senator Dole has not done."
"We have no choice-- as a state and a nation-- to move with a sense of urgency to make up ground and move forward with light speed to address the assault on our environment which this Administration has ignored. Our state and its natural resources and incredible and are treasure we can't lose-- and that's one battlefront which has been ignored."
"When I win, I will represent every voter and citizen of this state regardless of whether they supported me or not. That's the right thing to do. It's what I believe a good leader should do."
"NCLB (No Child left Behind) simply don't work. It's flawed in concept, doesn't engender positive outcomes and is underfunded by about, say, $50 billion. Catchy name with no substance or money to match the moniker."
"As someone who's done a lot of fundraising, I've always referred to political dollars as "the dirty underbelly of democracy." It's repugnant the amount of money required to mount a national campaign-- which I'll do-- but it's gotta change. Public financing across-the-board: the only way to take dollars out of the equation. This is an election, not an auction."
"We are a noble republic made up of giving and generous people. However, we are trapped by a misguided Administration with misplaced priotities-- or in kid-speak, they got lost in a forest and can't find their way home. However, a rescue team is on the way."Folks, get on over to Jim Neal's website and let him know how much you appreciate an honest and open candidate. While you're there, don't forget to send him some monetary love.
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